The Daily Telegraph - Saturday
New ruler, new ideas ... Frederik okays The Crown for Denmark
Royal family to get the full Netflix treatment as plans are announced for a Danish version of the hit series
THE Danish royal family are going to be given treatment with a new TV dramatisation of their lives and reign on the way.
The series which carries the working title or “By the Grace of God” will chart the life of the recently-abdicated Queen Margrethe II. Viewers will be given an insight into her path to the throne, life at the royal court of Amalienborg as well as her romance with the “dashing, gallant” Prince Henrik.
While began shortly before Queen Elizabeth rose to the throne, the Danish series will introduce viewers to Margrethe as a child.
According to Denmark’s TV2, the series will begin in 1940 and depict the royal family “for better and for worse”.
It will contain elements of political drama but will primarily be about a girl and her family, according to the network.
Queen Margrethe II abdicated after more than 50 years on the Danish throne in a surprise New Year’s Eve address. She has been succeeded by her son, the now King Frederik X. She was born during the Second World War and the Nazi occupation of Denmark.
Announcing By the Grace of God, TV 2 said the monarch’s birth came “as a light in the darkness”, making her a “symbol of hope and unity in an occupied Denmark”.
As well as being Denmark’s longest reigning monarch, Queen Margarethe II was famously down-to-earth during her reign, being spotted alone in supermarkets, and working as an artist on the sets for ballet and theatre productions.
“Now is the time to tell the magnificent story, which can give us an insight we haven’t had before,” producer Meta Louise Foldager Sørensen, who was executive producer of hit political drama said.
was a Danish political drama series which premiered in 2012 to rave reviews both domestically and abroad.
“It is the story of a family, an institution and an anachronism fighting to preserve its relevance in a modern age. The royal house is something that all of us Danes share, regardless of whether you are a supporter, an opponent or just somewhere in between,” says producer Pernille Bech Christensen.
The Danish monarchy has yet to respond to news of the new drama.
The Windsor family are known to not be fans of which Netflix labelled as a “fictional dramatisation”. The series has depicted King Charles affair with Queen Camilla and the days leading up to the death of Princess Diana. According to a recent book by royal biographer Robert Hardman, Prince William can be seen “rolling his eyes” at the mention of the programme.
One early critic of the Danish series is a director who was put under pressure to shelve his film about the wild antics of then crown-prince Frederick amid fears it would cause offence.
Christian Tafdrup said he was annoyed that the series has been given the go-ahead while his film wasn’t. “There was too much fear of touch back then, and it was really a pity,’ he said.
A Danish media historian has called it “a question of delicate balances” between keeping the royals happy and telling intimate truths. Gunhild Moltesen Agger said “the press has had the problem that if you don’t follow the unwritten code of good behaviour, then you don’t get access to the part that the royal family would like to make available”.
Percentage of earnings paid in tax in the Netherlands by anyone whose salary exceeds €75,518
would mean that the King could see around €500,000 cut from his annual allowance. Last year a similar motion failed to garner the support it needed.
Since then, the parties that have usually supported taxing the royal family have gained more control of the House of Representatives and Senate.
Other royals will be hit by heavy taxes if the new rules come into effect.
A total of €431,000 is currently bestowed to Queen Máxima and Princess Amalia, who is next in line for the throne, is eligible for €300,000. She waived the allowance in 2021.
The cost of funding the royal family grew by 11 per cent since 2023, budgeted at €55 million in 2024.
In the UK, the Royal family is exempt from paying taxes, but in 1992 Queen Elizabeth II volunteered to pay income tax and capital gains tax on her personal income, and King Charles III does the same. The King and the Prince of Wales also pay income tax on the revenue they generate. However, the amount of tax they pay is not made public.
Any income members of the Royal family generate from privately owned assets is taxed.